It is a stinging defeat for Greenpeace in the United States. A court in the state of North Dakota has sentenced the non-governmental organisation to an astronomical financial penalty: 345 million dollars, equivalent to approximately 292 million euros. The environmental association was found guilty of defamation, sabotage, trespassing and wilful interference with the business operations of the American company Energy Transfer.

Greenpeace: "We will be forced to declare bankruptcy"

Greenpeace had already been convicted in 2025, at first instance, in the context of the same proceedings. At the time, the envisaged penalty had been even heavier: as much as 660 million dollars. The reduction of the figure, however, is not enough to bring any relief to the NGO. Which has responded in no uncertain terms: "If the judgment is upheld, we will be forced to go bankrupt".

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PRESS RELEASE: Greenpeace organisations to appeal US$ 345 million North Dakota court judgment in Energy Transfer's intimidation lawsuit greenpeace.org/aotearoa/press… #politics #nzpol

♥ 3 28 feb 2026 · Apri su X →

A sum of this magnitude is financially unsustainable by any measure, and for the American division of Greenpeace – which was founded back in 1979 – the only solution would be to file for bankruptcy.

The protests mobilised tens of thousands of people in North Dakota

The trial against the non-governmental organisation was linked to the demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline that took place on American soil in 2016 and 2017. At the time, during Donald Trump's first presidential term, approximately three hundred Native American tribes had managed to mobilise tens of thousands of people to protest against the construction of the infrastructure: the "black snake" as it had been dubbed by the Sioux living in one of the regions it crosses. A monster stretching 1,800 kilometres, capable of transporting 750,000 barrels of crude oil every day from North Dakota to a petroleum terminal in Illinois.

The pipeline, according to the original plan, was set to pass through Lake Oahe, which supplies water to the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and is considered sacred by the Sioux. Hence the massive demonstrations. In which Greenpeace, according to the American courts, was wrong to take part, even though the NGO itself states that it played a marginal role in the mobilisation and insists it never participated in violent actions, which it considers "contrary to our ethics".

Greenpeace will appeal to the Supreme Court, with freedom of expression also at stake

The wave of protests came at a heavy cost to Energy Transfer, according to the judges, who therefore deemed it right that Greenpeace compensate the company that had been contracted to build the pipeline. For the environmental organisation – which reports approximately 40 million dollars in annual income in the United States, primarily from donations – only one hope remains: the Supreme Court, first that of North Dakota, then the national one. "This judgment threatens the ability of movements like ours to speak out and tell the truth to those in power", the leadership of the ecology group stated.

Energy Transfer, a Texan company, was able to exploit the particularly favourable legislation of the American state: unlike many other legal frameworks, North Dakota permits so-called "Slapp" lawsuits (Strategic litigation against public participation), that is, lawsuits filed with the intent of silencing critical voices.